1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic systems, and more particularly, to transient electrical event protection circuits.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Certain electronic systems can be exposed to a transient electrical event, or an electrical signal of short duration having rapidly changing voltage and high power. Transient electrical events can include, for example, electro static discharge (ESD) events arising from the abrupt release of charge from an object or person to an electronic system.
Transient electrical events can destroy integrated circuits (ICs) due to overvoltage conditions and high levels of power dissipation in relatively small areas of the ICs. High power dissipation can increase IC temperature, and can lead to numerous problems, such as gate oxide punch-through, junction damage, metal damage, and surface charge accumulation. Transient electrical events can be a problem in a variety of applications, including, for example, in high performance radio frequency (RF) circuit applications. Thus, there is a need for providing protection over ICs in an electronic system from such transient electrical events.